US-China

Hello everyone!

I am continuing to share items from my 24 cent 1861 US issue exhibit and I realized I needed to make a few new threads.

Here is an item mailed from the United States, via England (London) and France (Marseilles) on its way to Hong Kong, China. The letter is dated 1866, so the rate via Marseilles was 53 cents, a reduction from the rate of 57 cents earlier in the 1860s.

I must convert the exhibit pages to a size that works in the forum, then I will share the pages. But, first I will put a few covers out here for people to see.

Have a good weekend!

Rob

Hello all!

Here is the 45 cent rate via Southampton. Instead of taking the rail route through France, this item had to take a mail packet around Spain, passing Gibraltar on its way to Malta.

Both routes, via Southampton and via Marseilles ended up in Malta. So, it was possible that sometimes the cheaper rate would get a letter to where it needed to go just as fast as the more expensive rate. If a person understood the shipping schedule from Malta, money could be saved.

Have a good day all!

Rob

Hello all!

Here is an exhibit page that shows both rates. The cover shown in the post above is on this page and a different item is used to show the 53 cent rate.

If you would like to read more about this, I have a couple of posts on the topic here: https://gffpostalhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/China

Best,

Rob

Dieter and Laurent,

Laurent is, of course, correct.

The other factor was the trip across the continent to get to the west coast if the letter originated East of the Rocky Mountains. Until the Trans-Continental railroad was completed, it was not necessarily true that crossing the Pacific would be any faster than going through Europe. It was a matter of using the most established and reliable transportation available. It was also a matter negotiating contracts to carry the mail that justified the volume.

Best,

Rob

Hello all!

Here is an 1862 folded letter that weighed less than 1/4 ounce and qualified for the reduced 51 cent rate via Marseilles (rate for over 1/4 to 1/2 ounce was 57 cents at the time).

I was very pleased to acquire this item. It seemed like bidders were more interested in the 1/4 to 1/2 ounce items in the auction and let this one go. In my experience, there are many fewer examples of this reduced rate that there are for the next step.

I included the exhibit page as well as a scan of the cover itself.

Best,

Rob

Dieter,

Thank you.

I understand what you are saying. Most of the money for sailing was in getting people, cargo and mail to and from the West Coast to the East Coast - even into the 1860s. The Civil War resulted in many private American ships being commandeered for the war, making it difficult for anyone to be able to invest in the Pacific voyage. Just getting a ship to the Pacific required a long (and potentially dangerous) trip around South America.

But, once the war was over and it became obvious that competition had reduced prices significantly for passage via Panama, there was plenty of motivation to make the Pacific lines work.

Best,

Rob

Hello everyone,

Here is another letter to China via Marseilles. The postage was, again, 53 cents. But, this one went via an American packet across the Atlantic. The credit to the British was 32 cents, instead of 48 cents as shown in the first cover of this thread.

The red "1" on these items is the accounting of 1d for the colonial service.

Have a good day!

Rob